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Downtown Chico Business Association reports progress; city staff outline next assessment steps
Summary
The Downtown Chico Business Association presented an 18-month report on organizing, events, marketing and finances; staff said DCBA is conducting a business inventory and outlined code-based steps to modify assessments. Council and partners praised Taste of Chico and upcoming events.
Deputy City Manager Jennifer McCarthy introduced the Downtown Chico Business Association's 18-month progress report, describing the DCBA's focus areas — organization, business engagement, events and marketing — and the condition of their current finances and staffing model. "Before you tonight is the DCBA's 18 month report," McCarthy said, describing prior actions staff had taken to support assessment auditing and the process by which the DCBA could pursue an assessment-level modification under the municipal code.
DCBA volunteers and partners described recent successes. Audrey Taylor, identified in the record as a DCBA volunteer and president of Chapin Concepts, thanked the council for support and highlighted a committee formed to address vacant buildings. "We've made significant progress on the 3 year plan," she told council members and noted a general-manager role and existing part-time staffing. But questions remained about assessment collection and the timeline for formal steps; McCarthy said those steps must be initiated by the DCBA and that an inventory of downtown businesses is the immediate next step.
Butte College's Executive Director of Economic and Workforce Development, Linda Zorn, described a downtown placemaking partnership that will produce public-art projects and October events; another partner, Luis Moreno from the regional economic‑development district 3COR, described youth entrepreneurship programs and continued collaboration. Council members praised recent events such as Taste of Chico for strong merchant participation and supported further neighborhood revitalization and merchant involvement in Wildcat Weekend.
Council accepted the report and directed staff and DCBA to continue coordination on assessment steps and the inventory work; multiple councilmembers indicated support for further downtown property improvement initiatives.
